Trail Times makes final round of national newspaper contest

The Trail Times has made it through the preliminaries and, just like Nancy Greene at the 1968 Olympics in France, it wants a gold-medal finish.

But it will need help from readers.

The Trail Times submitted the front page of the Feb 15, 1968 edition chronicling Greene’s gold-medal victory in Grenoble into a nation-wide contest for the best front page stories and made it to the top eight in the sports category.

“The History of Canada in the Nation’s Front Pages” contest by Newspapers Canada in collaboration with PEI 2014, asked newspapers across the country to submit its best front pages from the past 150 years. The contest coincides with the 150th anniversary of the 1864 Charlottetown Conference, which played a huge role in shaping the country.

Eight categories were open for submission: Canadian Politics; Canadian Sports; Canadian Heroes; Canadian Arts/Culture/Entertainment; Canadian Science & Technology; Canada at War / Canadian Armed Forces; Canadian Communities; and Canada on the International Stage.

“With the Trail Times’ 119-year history I knew we would have some worthy submissions,” said Trail Times editor Guy Bertrand. “And sports was an obvious choice for a category

“With the help of the Trail Historical Society, which maintains a lot of our back issues, I came up with a couple of entries in the sports category on the Smokies 1961 world championship and Nancy Greene’s iconic victory at the Olympics in 1968.”

Frontpages.ca chose the February 1968 front page, and all other finalists, based on its newsworthiness, depth and detail, and quality of writing, totalling up to a score out of 100. The judges were on the lookout for the front page story’s significance to the community, local impact, scope and excellence of content.

“The front page with Nancy Greene’s win was great on so many levels,” said Bertrand. “Her victory propelled her into worldwide stardom and she would be named Canada’s female athlete of the 20th Century.

“That edition was also a great example of the Times’ staff getting to Rossland and getting reaction from the Greene family and taking photos in the family home. Capturing that moment has become a piece of history in the Home of Champions.”

Submissions came in from across the country and judges narrowed the list down to eight in each category. Now it’s up to the voters to decide the best front pages for each decade.

The Trail Times is up against national newspapers and major dailies in the Canadian Sports category.

The Calgary Herald has two covers entered in the Canadian Sports category. One front page showing off the 1988 Calgary Olympics, and another celebrating Canada’s gold-medal win in the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.

The Globe and Mail’s entry commemorates the Canadian victory over the Soviet team in 1972’s Summit Series. The now defunct Sunday Star, formerly based in Toronto, entered a front page with a congratulatory photo of the Toronto Blue Jays winning the World Series in 1992.

To vote for the 1968 front page of the Times, visit frontpages.ca, click ‘vote now’ and pick the Canadian Sports category. Two categories are added every two weeks but voting in all categories ends on Aug. 22.

Winners will be announced in early September and will be posted on the FrontPages.ca website.